73% of inmates test positive for coronavirus at Ohio prison

We just found out that 73% of inmates at a prison in Ohio have tested positive for coronavirus.

This is a pretty startling number but I think it also is very revealing about how widespread this virus is.

The tests were done at a state prison in Ohio — a state that has become a bit of a hotspot in the coronavirus outbreak. There are at least 1,828 confirmed cases which make up the majority of cases in Marion County, which leads Ohio in reported infections.

The large number of positive cases is in large part due to widespread testing that is being conducted even on individuals that do not have symptoms.

The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction stated, “[b]ecause we are testing everyone — including those who are not showing symptoms — we are getting positive test results on individuals who otherwise would have never been tested because they were asymptomatic.”

Ohio is reporting about 12,900 cases as of yesterday and the prison system now accounts for more than 20% of those cases.

I think these results are a bit startling because thousands of people in jails and prisons are at risk due to the contained nature of the facilities. Both inmates and staff are at high risk.

But I think that this high percentage also lends more evidence that the coronavirus is much more widespread than most of us believe.

Because they tested everybody, including those showing no symptoms, they arrived at the true number of infections.

Just yesterday, new study results revealed that many more people in Los Angeles County have likely been exposed to the coronavirus than initially thought.

I think that once we are able to implement blanket testing in different areas, we will find some unbelievable numbers like this where many more individuals have been exposed to the virus than we anticipated at first.

If immunity works the way that many experts think/hope it will, then a sizable group of people will be able to return to work and to things like travel before a vaccine is ever produced without risking their health and potentially the health of others.

We also could be closer to “herd immunity” than we think.

It’s worth noting that the numbers of infected inmates in other much larger states with bigger person systems is significantly lower and there is a good chance that it is due to the lack of testing which currently only focuses on those displaying symptoms in many instances.